Hinrichs and others served chicken, pasta, meatballs and vegetables to the homeless, then handed out bags of necessities such as shampoo and body wash.

"To see the way everyone reacted after being given food for the first time in a while was … ," Hinrichs started, before his voice trailed off.

Hinrichs was not exposed to such things in his hometown of Clara City, Minn., a farming area two hours west of the Twin Cities with a total area of 1.74 miles and a population of 1,318.

The 1,268 miles between Clara City and Easton only begins to describe the differences between what Hinrichs was exposed to growing up with and what he has experienced at Lafayette.

The 6-foot-8, 223-pounder not only has thrived on the basketball court as the Leopards' best player, but has used his Christian upbringing and strong family values to become a relevant contributor on campus.

In addition to feeding the homeless and participating in fundraisers for the Sixth Street Shelter in Allentown and canned food drives with Athletes CARE, Hinrichs tutors other athletes and will even sing in church if you ask nice.

"He's been a great representative of Lafayette," basketball coach Fran O'Hanlon said. "We're very fortunate to have him."

Hinrichs and Lafayette are lucky to have found each other.

The 21-year-old is the youngest of four sons to Bruce and Sue Hinrichs. His three older brothers — Isaac, Tyler and Austin — worked on the family farm.

"I was involved in 4H and got to take my pig to the area fair once," Seth said proudly. "Mostly, I just stayed at home and played with my toys while my brothers worked."

Seth got a taste of feeding the animals and cleaning up the manure before the family sold the farm and moved to Clara City when he was in third grade.

Seth again followed his brothers into sports, the church choir and the local youth group that occasionally traveled out of state for retreats. They also took a mission trip to Missouri to help flooding victims.

"My brothers were not just good examples for me but for their peers," he said. "They were leaders in the community."

Seth's brothers continued their athletic careers at Division III Bethel University, an evangelical Christian institution in St. Paul.

It was with his college decision when Seth broke off his brothers' path.

That opportunity, however, almost didn't happen.

O'Hanlon was at a Las Vegas school in the summer of 2010 to watch a prospective Lafayette recruit. He was passing through the main gym en route to an annex facility when he saw this "big, Nordic looking blonde."

The Leopards coach stopped to watch Hinrichs, who was playing for the Minnesota Comets AAU team.

"Usually I'm in a gym with other Patriot League and Ivy League coaches because we all know who has the grades," O'Hanlon said. "We follow the same people.

"I was like, 'Wow, there's nobody here.' Maybe he's not any good, but I thought he was."

O'Hanlon returned the next day to watch Hinrichs again.

This time, O'Hanlon was joined by Eastern Kentucky coach Jeff Neubauer, who was recruiting another player.

O'Hanlon again liked what he saw and eventually got a commitment from Hinrichs.

The 20th-year coach remained unsure about Hinrichs after a trip to Minnesota early in 2011 to watch him play for Maccray High.

When the Leopards coach's plane landed, he called Sue Hinrichs to let the family know he was coming to that night's game.

"She said that it had been snowed out," O'Hanlon said. "I was like, 'I really don't think there is a Clara City because nothing gets snowed out in [Minnesota].'"

Hinrichs needed to convince his parents he was breaking off his brothers' path for all the right reasons.

"Distance was a big concern," Bruce Hinrichs said. "Seth's goal was to play Division I basketball and since Minnesota only has one Division I school and it didn't seem interested in him, we were going to have to travel quite a bit."

Seth and his father visited Lafayette, where a meeting with O'Hanlon eased Bruce's mind.

At Lafayette, Seth made friends with those on the basketball team and others on campus. His parents stayed connected via Skype.

"Face-to-face made a big difference," Bruce said.

When a fellow Kirby House residence hall classmate, Everett Glenn, died in May 2012 after a drinking binge on his birthday, Seth needed help from a familiar face.

Bruce said Seth talked very little about the situation, so the father had the youth group director at their church reach out to Seth.

"[Seth] said he was the first one there" and that Everett was already dead, Bruce recalled. "The youth group trips are great experiences away from family. They talk about issues that affect them. Having that was a big help then [to Seth]."

Seth has been helping others on and off campus ever since.

The two-year captain is closing in on Lafayette's career top-10 scoring list and the Leopards are 6-2 this season (against Division I foes) entering Saturday's game at 10th-ranked Kansas.

Seth's family will be there. The Hinrichs have made a habit of making annual trips to see Seth play — including Vanderbilt, American, Navy and now Kansas.

"We've gotten the opportunity to go places we never otherwise would have seen," Bruce said. "Niagara Falls, the Pocono Mountains, a lot of the war history places on the East Coast.

"It's been quite an experience as parents."

Seth's experiences in Clara City helped mold him into a mature 21-year-old at Lafayette.

His goal after college: play professional basketball, likely overseas.